Is Meghan Markle vegan or a fegan? Here are the vegan celebrities who are making us want to eat veg

The rich and famous are always coming up with new - and sometimes bizarre - ways to better their lifestyles, from their looks and even their spirituality, to (you guessed it) their diets. And at the moment veganism couldn't be hotter - the choice of going meat and dairy free is celebrated in January, or as everyone is calling it: Veganuary.

Don't even think about going vegan until you've read this

Glamour

Health

26 Jun 2018

Glamour

We take a look at the celebs who have overhauled their jet-setting lifestyles to make this most eco-friendly of choices…

Venus Williams

The tennis player has been vegan since ……. She credits the raw food diet for allowing her to stay on top of her game despite being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease: Once I started, I fell in love with the concept of fuelling your body in the best way possible," she told Health.

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Benedict Cumberbatch

Named PETA’s most beautiful vegan in 2018, Benedict Cumberbatch follows a strict plant-based diet. He announced the lifestyle change during promotion for Avengers when he was asked if he had to eat anything “gross” to get in the shape for the movie: “No, no – well, I eat a plant-based diet”

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In January 2018, Ellie Goulding announced her decision to go vegan. "Once I fully understood where meat came from … I found that concept quite hard to live with. If you don't need meat to survive, I don't see why you have to have it” she told The Cut.

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The pop star chose to adopt a vegan lifestyle due to animal-rights reasons: "I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding” she told Mirror UK.

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Meghan Markle

Rumour has it that Prince Harry has had his diet overhauled by Meghan Markle but is the Duchess of Sussex a vegan? Well when speaking to Best Healthin 2016 she stated that when she was filming Suits, “I’m conscious of what I eat. I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends." So totally part time on the job, then!

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Serena Williams

The greatest person to ever pick up a tennis racquet, Serena Williams went on a very strict diet after giving birth to her daughter, Alexis Olympia. Talking at a Wimbledon press conference, Serena said, “I was vegan, I didn’t eat sugar!” The results of her change in diet didn’t take effect until she stopped breast feeding, commenting, “ I lost 10 pounds in a week when I stopped. I just kept dropping.”

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Will.I.AM

The Black Eyed Peas hit maker, Will.I.AM went Vegan in early 2018, announcing via his Instagram stories that he had joined the ‘V.gang’ Catchy.

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Madonna

According to The Cutthe sixty year old superstar follows a super strict vegan macrobiotic diet which consists of cold pressed juices, fruits, vegetables and whole grains like quinoa.

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Jessica Chastain

After suffering from low energy levels, the Golden Globe nominee went vegan. Telling W Magazine about the experience, Chastain said, “I just had more energy than I’ve ever had in my whole life. I was just listening to what my body was telling me!”

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Miley Cyrus

Miley has never been one to shy away from her ever changing lifestyle choices but her path to veganism in 2014 was slightly more subtle than the rest. After the death of her dog, Floyd, her animal eating days were over. Surprisingly, although there were various subtle hints on her Instagram it actually took her about a year to publicly announce her veganism.

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Liam Hemsworth

Just like Miley, her hubby Liam decided to make the switch to veganism in early 2015 after he learned about the mistreatment of animals. "The more I was aware of, the harder and harder it was to do," he told Men's Fitness, of eating meat. His Hunger Games costar Woody Harrelson suggested he try a vegan diet. Within a few months, Hemsworth was sold. "There are no negatives to eating like this," he told the mag. "I feel nothing but positive, mentally and physically. I love it."

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Kate and Rooney Mara

The two sisters are staunch supporters of veganism although Kate has professed how hard it was to overcome her love of dairy. She said her loved ones couldn't believe it: “Their biggest surprise is that I don’t eat cheese anymore, and I don’t blame them because cheese was definitely the hardest thing to give up.”

Rooney Mara has also spoken about how she avoids gluten too. Speaking to a publication in 2013, she said: "I'm gluten-free. A bunch of people in my family have celiac disease, so I stopped eating wheat about a year ago, and right away I noticed a difference. I'm also vegan; I basically eat only fruits and vegetables. I've never felt better than I do now."

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Lea Michele

Former Glee star Lea Michele treats her body like a temple, and turned vegan for the health benefits as well as animal rights reasons. "It's about being good to your body and the planet. I'm a foodie, but I think it's much more fun to find things on the menu that are good for me," she said. Lea was honoured by PETA in 2010 for her charity work with animals.

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Jared Leto

The Oscar-winning actor Jared Leto and the rest of his 30 Seconds To Mars bandmates are all strict vegans. "Well, there was a time when we used to sacrifice goats, but then we all became vegans, so we've been sacrificing tofu before the shows!" Good to know, Jared…

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Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande chose to take a completely began path in 2013. During an interview with the Mirror she said "I love animals more than I love most people, not kidding". She does admit that eating out can be hard, but if you stick to what you know you'll be OK.

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Joaquin Phoenix

This Oscar-nominated actor was born in Puerto Rico to eco-conscious parents (his siblings were all given earthly names like River, Rain and Summer, and Joaquin changed his name from Leaf) who raised their brood as vegans. Joaquin was offered several big commercial breaks in adverts for meat and milk products when he started his career, but turned them down. Lo and behold, the talented actor by-passed the cheesy commercial world entirely. Now, he’s a world-famous movie star, still a vegan, and an ambassador for animal cruelty prevention charity, PETA. Not bad.

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Casey Affleck

Good Will Hunting star Casey Affleck – who is married to fellow celeb vegan Summer Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix’s sister – is a keen animal rights campaigner and vegan. His support stems from a childhood pet. “The first dog I had was owned by an abusive couple. He was very skittish. He wouldn’t let me hold him. It was explained to me that it was because of how he was treated,” he said.

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Jennifer Lopez

Jennifer Lopez says that going vegan has given her loads of energy. "It's basically no dairy, no meat, everything is just plant based and just from the ground. I love that I'm eating more greens. It makes you feel so much better."J-Lo said she'd recommend it, but has one regret: "Butter is the one thing I miss! Butter makes everything taste better."

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Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson became a temporary vegan - cutting out animal products in the two week run-up to her wedding. A source told Us Weekly: "Jessica did a vegan diet for about two weeks...She also got quite a few B12 shots." The star, who has been a spokesperson for Weight Watchers in the past, also embarked on a strict fitness regime before her big day, doing hardcore workouts with her trainer.

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Jay-Z & Beyoncé

Joining the long list of celebrity vegans - albeit for a three-week duration only - is Jay-Z, who announced his plans to go vegan on his Life & Times blog. The rapper wrote: "On December 3rd, one day before my 44th birthday, I will embark on a 22 Days challenge to go completely vegan, or as I prefer to call it, plant-based!! I will post my progress... Any professional vegans out there that have any great food spots please help out! Please ha. I don't know what happens after Christmas. A semi-vegan, a full plant-based diet? Or just a spiritual and physical challenge? We'll see..." The rapper also added that his wife Beyoncé would be joining him, too.

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Tobey Maguire

Former Spider-Man Tobey Maguire seems to have developed a fondness for his fellow earth-dwelling creatures. The star shunned animal produce in favour of a vegan lifestyle in 2009.

She might be the star of detective drama Bones, but there’s certainly no meat on [link url="http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/person/emily-deschanel’[/link]s plate. The actress (and sister of actress Zooey Deschane) has long been a vegan and a supporter of animal rights issues. She even revealed her special talent for turning co-stars over to the veg-side. “David Boreanaz used to make fun of me for being a vegan,” she said. “But then I started giving him vegan food to eat, and he loves it. Now he tries to eat vegetarian one day a week.”

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Jamie Hince

Kate Moss’s rock star estranged husband Jamie Hince famously described himself as a "chain-smoking vegan” but that was until his wife Kate Moss came on to the scene. Speaking to London's Evening Standard in 2012, Hince revealed that: "I was vegan for about 20 years. The thing that really tipped me over the edge was when I first met Kate, had just started seeing her, and I walked into the kitchen and she was in her underwear making me a bacon sandwich. She didn't know I was vegan..."

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Moby

No surprises here then... Legendary dance musician Moby has been consistently vocal about his vegan beliefs, even naming his 1996 album Animal Rights and opening a vegan café called TeaNY in New York. "Veganism should be a happy thing, not a miserable one. And we shouldn't make people feel bad or guilty for their lifestyle choices, even if they reject veganism,” he said.

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Bryan Adams

Canadian-born rock star Bryan Adams has two very different sides to his life - making stadium anthems and crusading for Greenpeace and PETA. “I’ve made a conscious decision not to be part of the cycle of killing animals because I couldn't see the point of crusading for Greenpeace and then eating a fish. Seriously, if you are going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk,” he said.

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Woody Harrelson

The Hunger Games star Woody Harrelson is not only a vegan, but also an advocate of the raw food diet. Raw foodists believe in eating fruit, veg and nuts in its most natural form to get the maximum amount of nutrients out of them.

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Thom Yorke

Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has long been an activist and a supporter of ecological world issues – including animal welfare. However, his introduction into veganism was a little less orthodox: “I started going out with this girl and I wanted to impress her so I pretended I'd been vegetarian all along... And I immediately felt a lot better, a lot healthier. I was concerned, as many people are, about that 'you're not going to get all the things you need in your diet, you're going to get sick all the time', but the exact opposite happened to me, so I never looked back. It was never a problem straight off."

Alicia Silverstone says she felt better than ever after turning vegan. “Once I went vegan, I lost the weight I wanted to lose, my nails were stronger, and my skin was glowing. I feel great and I look better now than I did 11 years ago,” she said.

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Ellen DeGeneres

American chat show host Ellen DeGeneres became a vegan because she loved animals so much…

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Portia De Rossi

… As did her wife, Arrested Development star Portia De Rossi. DeGeneres explains: “We just made that shift in our lives. The benefit of it is weight loss. For her more than me. Her body responded to it very well. It is amazing. We are just both very happy. It feels like such a compassionate choice. We are such animal lovers, why stop short of cows and chickens? It didn't make any sense."

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Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway modelled her character The White Witch in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland on her love of all things vegetable-based. "When I was trying to work her out, I kept saying to myself, 'She is a punk-rock, vegan pacifist.' So I listened to a lot of Blondie, I watched a lot of Greta Garbo movies, and I looked at a lot of the artwork of Dan Flavin,” she said.

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Bill Clinton

Former US President Bill Clinton was named PETA’s Person Of 2010 after he began promoting the benefits of vegan eating. He changed his own habits for health reasons and thanks to the plant-based diet, he shed a whopping 24lbs.

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Alanis Morissette

There’s nothing Ironic about Alanis Morissette’s eating habits. The singer/songwriter switched her diet to lose weight and feel happier. "I'm back to what I was born to be, at my best... I feel very alive... I have no more aches and pains, and my allergies are gone, too,” she said after giving up meat in 2009.

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Brad Pitt

Brad Pitt is said to have been a vegan for years, although his ex Angelina Jolie isn't.

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Pamela Anderson

Pamela Anderson has always been emotionally connected to animals. She became a vegetarian at the age of 11 as a result of her father's hunting. Later in her career she was introduced to PETA where she was exposed to slaughterhouses, pushing her towards veganism. Dairy was the last thing she gave up and swears "everything improved" – digestion, skin, and hair.

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Alec Baldwin

After being diagnosed as prediabetic in 2011, actor Alec Baldwin had no choice but to amend his unhealthy lifestyle, and as a result he turned to veganism. By January 2012, when he won the SAG award for Best Actor in a TV Comedy, he had lost a whopping 30 pounds!

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Russell Brand

Russel Brand, another proud ambassador for PETA, tweeted in 2011 "I'm now vegan, goodbye eggs, hello Ellen". Apparently his dramatic change of diet was sparked by the documentary Forks over Knives which explores how plant based foods help cleanse your system and protect it from disease. Good going Russ!

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Jenna Dewan Tatum

After a chicken finger revelation, Mrs Tatum gave up meat at an early age. Later in life she was diagnosed lactose-intolerant and has been vegan ever since. She swears that her glowing skin and to-die-for figure can be credited to her veganism. Although her doctor said it's totally OK to raise a vegan child, Jenna has stated that she wants her daughter, Everly, to make her own choices on the matter.

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Anthony Kiedis

The Red Hot Chilli Peppers lead singer has a soft spot in his heart for animals. After learning that people are taking far too many fish out the sea that can be accounted for, Anthony Kiedis decided to turn vegan. A farming documentary about cows sealed the deal for him, although he has admitted to slipping up and "dabbing in and out" of the plant-based diet.

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Leona Lewis

She was the first X Factor winner to break into the American industry and guess what, she's a vegan too... well almost. Leona has experimented with being a vegetarian all throughout her teens until she decided she was done with meat for good. She leads a completely vegan lifestyle with the exception of some eggs. "If they've come from an ethical farm I'll eat them, or I get eggs from my friends who have chickens".

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Demi Moore

Actress Demi Moore has always taken control of her appearance and weight, whether that has been through intense workouts or eating clean. She has openly spoken about the struggles of maintaining her killer bod and apparently, being a vegan is the way forward. She has not only embraced the meat-free, dairy-free lifestyle but she has taken it raw too. Y

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Michelle Pfeiffer

Michelle did not commit to the plant-based diet straight away, saying: "I just told myself one day that I'm going to do it and I'm going to give myself eight weeks. And that I'm not going to commit on this for a lifetime because it's psychologically huge for people to wrap their minds around it". Well you know what, we agree, this is definitely an approach for success.

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Natalie Portman

The Hollywood actress took a break from veganism during her pregnancy in 2011 during her pregnancy as it made her crave a lot of bakery food containing eggs and butter. She's back to it now though: "I'm vegan, and I drink a lot of water. If I have dairy, I immediately break out."

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Dan Stevens

The Beauty and the Beast and Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens said that he was "sort of" vegan in 2014 after revealing his baking prowess. "I have a mean recipe for vegan brownies." he said. "I am sort of vegan. Not like Jessica Chastain or Alicia Silverstone vegan – I have a prawn every now and again!"

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Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder stepped out as an advocate for going vegan when he appeared on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke and not only announced that he had been a vegan for a year and a half, but loves it so much that he made a a hilarious song about it during his sing-a-long car journey with James. "I like not eating meat", he said. "But I do miss the chicken".